Is There A Realistic Chance Of Congress Passing An Online Gambling Ban During The Lame Duck?

The 2016 election is now in the rearview mirror, and with an administration lacking clear policy positions about to take control, online gambling is suddenly a hot topic of conversation on political watchdog websites.

Others feel Trump will be pro-gambling, in which case, the lame duck would be the best shot to pass a federal online gambling ban.

No less than a half-dozen websites (see here, here, and here) have published articles during the past couple weeks raising the specter of Congress passing some version of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act. RAWA would prohibit online gambling across the country.

But just how likely is a federal online gambling prohibition passing Congress during the lame duck?

A brief history of RAWA

The RAWA is a pet project of billionaire casino magnate and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson adopted his public anti-online gambling position in a Forbes interview from November 2013, when he announced he would “spend whatever it takes” to prohibit online gambling.

Other than that, RAWA has failed to gain meaningful momentum in Congress and is opposed by people on the right and the left.

But widespread support isn’t always needed to get something passed in Congress. And just like the UIGEA was an eleventh hour attachment to the Safe Port Act in 2006, RAWA could forge a similar path.

The one “close call” for RAWA occurred in 2014, when the bill’s supporters were trying to attach the online gambling ban to the CRomnibus, a must-pass piece of legislation during the mid-term lame duck session.

Upshot

It’s unclear if there is an appetite to pass a federal online gambling ban during the lame duck. And it’s also unclear if or how the Trump administration will deal with online gambling.

What is clear is that with seven states offering legal online gambling and several others looking to join them, passage of RAWA, or a reversal of the 2011 Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel opinion, would likely lead to a prolonged legal battle.

Sign Up For The Grove Report – US Online Gambling Industry Insights
Delivered To Your Inbox:

Steve Ruddock -
Steve covers nearly every angle of online poker in his job as a full-time freelance poker writer. His primary focus for OPR is the developing legal and legislative picture for regulated US online poker and gambling.